The IPL 2025 Players’ retention deadline is approaching as the franchises have a tricky task to make the tough calls ahead of the auction.
Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders would be one of the teams that might not like this phase that much, as they played dominant cricket last season, and now they can retain just six players from their winning side. KKR have often backed their players and tried to retain their core to build their team around it in the auction. Several experts have shared their predictions for KKR retention, in which Andre Russell and Sunil Narine remain the most common in most of them. Now, veteran India spinner Harbhajan Singh has thrown his hat in the prediction game, and being part of the KKR in 2021, he knows the team culture quite well.
Harbhajan was quite clear about his choices as he chose skipper Shreyas Iyer to be retained while he picked three overseas players alongside him – Phil Salt, Sunil Narine, and Andre Russell. The legendary spinner was adamant that KKR should retain their young superstar Rinku Singh for sure, as the left-handed swashbuckling batter has turned out to be one of the best Indian finishers in the last couple of years.
“KKR dominated the entire season, so it will be difficult for them to leave or retain anyone. But it’s a matter of retention, so you only have limited numbers that you can retain. If I want to see or if I have to choose my 6 players, which 6 players will be there for KKR? I think Shreyas Iyer will be there, Phil Salt will be there, Narine will be there, Andre Russell will be there, Rinku Singh will be there. I will definitely want to see Rinku Singh. He should be the 5th player to be retained,” Harbhajan told Star Sports.
Ramandeep Singh – the uncapped KKR pick by Harbhajan Singh
Meanwhile, for the uncapped pick, Harbhajan snubbed the BGT 2024-25 bound and went ahead with Ramandeep Singh after his recent exploits in domestic cricket.
“And if we talk about one more player, who is the last player to be retained? It could be Ramandeep Singh. He is an uncapped player. I think he should be retained. He played very well last year and I have seen his performance in domestic cricket this year as well. So I think this 6th player, Knight Rider, will be retained,” he concluded.
